What is content marketing and why you need to do it

When you enter the world of digital marketing, one of the terms you will hear a lot is content marketing.  But, after all, what is the best definition of content marketing?  Understand more in the text below.  But what is content marketing?  Content marketing is a resource for bringing information to your target audience, helping them and preparing them for a purchasing process that will direct them to your company in a much more natural and spontaneous way than a simple advertisement.  In what way?  By creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain this audience, which can and should become profitable for companies.  Content Marketing: How Does It Work?  When we talk about how to do digital marketing, which is using digital channels to attract new business and create relationships, we will also hear about Inbound Marketing.  And what is Inbound Marketing?  It is a set of actions to gain the public's interest through quality content, leading them through a funnel until the moment of purchase.  Content marketing is included in these actions.  This more natural way of reaching the sales funnel is not just a concept.  Statistics really prove that content marketing is a way to connect with your leads and convert them into customers.  Companies send all kinds of information to potential customers as a way of generating sales, but what is important out of all this?  What will solve that lead’s problem?  Therefore, the content marketing strategy is to create offers and rich content that interests your target audience, content that can help solve that lead's problem.  Why create this content?  Because it is through proximity and improved relationships with your leads that they can become customers.  And that is the function of content marketing.  Nowadays, practically everyone is on the internet, and if they don't shop online, they use the internet to obtain valuable information about what they want to buy in physical stores or even online, that is, they go through the virtual network and 70% of the purchasing process has already been done before the sale itself.  People research, they want to know, before deciding.  So what to do in content marketing?  First, you need to offer something, such as information on topics that will interest your personas, which can be distributed by creating a successful blog on your website.  In fact, creating a blog is a fundamental step towards distributing this content.  For example, in a wedding invitation company, where the leads are brides, offering more information on how to address wedding invitations, how to make the guest list, tips on types of invitations or even types of paper for envelopes, will be of deep interest to this persona.  This makes it much easier to retain and convert that lead into a customer because it generates credibility.  It also builds relationships as it offers content that can help this lead solve their problems.  In addition to blog posts, content marketing is also done through rich materials, which are a means of obtaining data from this potential client, transforming them into leads and then refining the information for them and segmenting them more and more, to the point of knowing exactly what their “pain” is and what your company can offer to help them.  Everything is content, social media posts, YouTube and Tiktok videos, emails, etc., and they must follow a plan so that they are not loose pieces, without objective, without strategy, without measurement and as a result, without effect so that companies really benefit from it.  Read more: Relationship Marketing What is content or what types can it be?  Marketing content is not just texts, but also videos that are interesting to your target audience, such as a tutorial.  You know, those are the ones who teach you how to do different things, from makeup to surfboards?  Infographics, e-books, podcasts, quizzes, surveys and polls, and other forms of communication are also valid for distributing content, that is, the message you want to convey to your audience, your community.  In fact, the content is the information transmitted, the rest are forms that change from time to time.  Content has been transmitted since cavemen times, cans of condensed milk from the 80s also used content in their marketing, the form was different, but the objective is the same as today.  The difference is that today we use digital means.  There are countless ways to distribute content that can be used to build relationships with leads. It takes a little creativity and innovation to stand out on an internet that is already full of material.  Nowadays, the big difference is the quality of the content and the creativity to present it in a different way.  How to plan content marketing?  When it comes to content marketing, planning is extremely important and it is a strategy.  Therefore, this step must be well executed to generate the expected results.  Below are some steps to planning your content.  Planning itself The first step is the planning itself.  At this first stage, you need to define the objectives you want to achieve with content marketing.  Is the goal to have more hits on the blog?  Or more followers on social media?  All of this with the ultimate goal of increasing sales and engagement with the public.  Choosing channels You also need to plan the channels that will be used to create this content.  To do this, it is necessary to know where the company or brand’s target audience is most present.  This way, you can choose whether to create content on Instagram, on a brand blog, on YouTube, etc.  And of course, it is possible to merge channels, to try to reach as many users as possible.  Research Research is part of any process.  Whether it’s to open a store, create content or buy a product.  It is designed to understand the competition, type of content and prices.  In the case of content marketing, research is focused on the topics that the target audience is most interested in.  You need to try to understand what competitors in the segment are doing, what works and what doesn't, what engages the most, how you can adapt it to your content and the interests of users within your brand's segment.  By understanding what your target audience is looking for, you can create quality content that reaches the expected target.  Defining the content After researching the topics, it is time to define what content will be created and its formats.  If a company operates in the food industry and notices that people are searching a lot about cakes, it can choose to make videos or e-books with various recipes.  It will all depend on the target audience and their preferences.  Content creation Content creation is the moment when creativity must run wild.  With the theme and format defined, it's time to create the best content, thinking about the end audience, so that they can identify with it.  Disclosure Disclosure is a very important point, as it is through it that the content can reach more people.  Obviously, there is organic reach, which happens with followers and people who see the content because others share it, but to reach even more people, you can invest in ads.  Ads are a great way to reach audiences who aren’t yet familiar with your brand.  On creative platforms, you can segment a lot, so you don't waste money by running an ad that reaches the wrong people.  Evaluation and maintenance After posting content, it is time to evaluate which ones worked and which ones didn’t.  What engaged you the most?  Which audience did you show the most interest in?  What content was good but could have been done in another format?  All channels have their own data, which allows you to analyze the performance of the content.  Using this data to your advantage is what will make a difference in the growth of your brand or company.  After analyzing the data, it's time to replan.  Decide which formats will be kept, what will be changed, what can be improved, etc.  In content marketing, there is always room for improvement and updates.  Content marketing: examples With the world already heavily focused on the online world, companies are increasingly investing in digital marketing tools and some of them manage to stand out.  Check out some examples of companies that do good content marketing below: Nubank Nubank is a Brazilian startup in the financial services segment, it is the 4th largest publicly traded Brazilian company.  On its networks, the brand positions itself as a non-traditional bank, which was created to end bureaucracy.  Its positioning on social media is lighter, without all the seriousness that many companies adopt.  On Twitter, the brand makes jokes, uses memes, and also uses current topics.  In terms of content marketing, it has a newsletter with exclusive content about finance for subscribers and also has a blog, where it creates content about the financial world.  The content also includes tutorials on how to declare income tax, information on scams related to payments, investments, etc.  Nestlé Nestlé is another brand that uses content marketing as a strategy to win over its target audience.  On their website, there are several types of content such as recipes that can be made with their products, quizzes such as 'Which party suits you?' and 'Which element matches your feminine strength?', along with the result, a product from the brand is also recommended.  There are also cooking classes, a blog about food and eating, and rich materials such as recipe e-books.  Michelin Michelin was the first company to use content marketing, long before the concept was defined.  Therefore, it has become an example of content marketing for companies.  In 1900, the company created the Michelin Guide, which recommended hotels and restaurants for travelers to visit.  The aim is for these trips to be made by car and, consequently, there would be greater spending on tires, which is the brand's main product.  Today, the Michelin Guide is considered the most respected guide in the world and uses a rating system to recommend restaurants and hotels.  Winning at least one Michelin star is the dream of many chefs around the world.  Marketing: content for all sizes The most interesting thing today is that companies of all sizes are using content marketing.  To give you an idea, at the end of 2016, 67% of companies predicted an increase in investment in their content marketing for 2017.  And this increase in the sector had already been 50% from 2015 to 2016.  For this reason, many large companies have blogs, do you want examples?  The giant multinational beauty company Avon has a blog to talk more closely with its consumers.  Or Natura, from the same sector, which also created a blog to talk more closely with its consultants on topics such as promotions, launches, social responsibility, business tips, among other topics.  And so does Red Bull, Magazine Luiza, McDonald's, Walmart, etc...  many others.  And if large corporations haven’t been left out of a successful strategy, why shouldn’t small and medium-sized companies take advantage of it?  Want to see?  A company that has a blog and makes more than 13 posts per month can see its views increase by 4,2 times and obtain 5 times more leads, in addition to generating twice as much traffic to their websites.  Additionally, content marketing also helps reduce your customer acquisition costs.  Want a more compelling reason to invest in this strategy?  But you need to be an expert in what you do, you need to take care of your product, create attractive content, with good images and good text, ask what your audience wants to know and understand their expectations, as well as encourage comments.  Rest assured that this way you will be much closer to him.

What is content marketing and why you need to do it

When you enter the world of digital marketing, one of the terms you will hear a lot is content marketing.

But, after all, what is the best definition of content marketing? Understand more in the text below:

But what is content marketing?

Content marketing is a resource for bringing information to your target audience, helping them and preparing them for a purchasing process that will direct them to your company in a much more natural and spontaneous way than a simple advertisement.

How? By creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain this audience, which can and should become profitable for companies.

ebook How to structure your company to be successful in Digital Marketing

Content Marketing: How Does It Work?

When we talk about how to do it digital marketing industry, which is to use digital channels to attract new business and create relationships, we will also hear about Inbound Marketing.

And what is Inbound Marketing? It is a set of actions to gain the interest of the public through quality content, leading them through a funnel until the moment of purchase. Content marketing is included within these actions.

This more natural way to reach the sales funnel is not just a concept. Statistics actually prove that content marketing is a way to connect with your leads and convert them into customers.

Companies send all kinds of information to potential customers as a way to generate sales, but what is important about all of this? What will solve a problem for that lead?

Therefore, the content marketing strategy is to create offers and rich content that interests your target audience, content that can help solve that lead's problem.

Why create this content?

Because it is through proximity and improved relationships with your leads that they can become customers. And that is the function of content marketing.

Nowadays, almost everyone is on the internet, and if they don't shop online, they use the internet to obtain valuable information about what they want to buy in physical stores or even online. In other words, they go through the virtual network and 70% of the purchasing process has already been completed before the sale itself. People research, they want to know, before deciding.

So what to do in content marketing? First, you need to offer something, such as information on topics that will interest your personas, which can be distributed by creating a successful blog on your website. In fact, Creating a blog is a key action for distributing this content.

For example, in a wedding invitation company, where the leads are brides, offering more information on how to address wedding invitations, how to make the guest list, tips on types of invitations or even types of paper for envelopes, will be of deep interest to this persona.

This makes it much easier to retain and convert that lead into a customer because it generates credibility. It also builds relationships as it offers content that can help that lead solve their problems.

In addition to blog posts, content marketing also involves rich materials, which are a means of obtaining data from potential customers, transforming them into leads and then refining the information for them and segmenting them more and more, to the point of knowing exactly what their “pain” is and what your company can offer to help them. Everything is content, social media posts, YouTube and TikTok videos, emails, etc., and they must follow a plan so that they are not isolated pieces, without a goal, without a strategy, without measurement and, as a result, without any effect so that companies can really benefit from them.

Read more:

What are contents or what types can they be?

Marketing content is not just texts, but also videos that are interesting to your target audience, such as tutorials. You know, those that teach you how to do different things, from makeup to surfboards?

Infographics, e-books, podcasts, quizzes, surveys and polls, and other forms of communication are also valid for distributing content, that is, the message you want to convey to your audience, your community. In fact, content is the information transmitted; the rest are forms that change from time to time.

via GIPHY

Content has been transmitted since the caveman era. Cans of condensed milk from the 80s also used content in their marketing. The format was different, but the objective is the same as it is today. The difference is that today we use digital media.

There are countless ways to distribute content that can be used to build relationships with leads. It takes a little creativity and innovation to stand out in an internet already full of material. Nowadays, the big differentiator is the quality of the content and the creativity to present it in a different way.

Como plan content marketing?

When it comes to content marketing, planning is extremely important and it is a strategy. Therefore, this step must be well executed to generate the expected results. 

Below are some steps to planning your content. 

Planning itself

The first step is planning itself. At this stage, you need to define the objectives you want to achieve with content marketing. Is the goal to get more hits on your blog? Or more followers on social media? All of this with the ultimate goal of increasing sales and engagement with your audience. 

Channel selection

It is also necessary to plan the channels that will be used to create this content. To do this, it is necessary to know where the company or brand's target audience is most present. This way, it is possible to choose whether to create content on Instagram, on a brand blog, on YouTube, etc. And, of course, it is possible to mix channels, to try to reach the largest possible number of users. 

Research 

Research is part of any process, whether it’s opening a store, creating content, or buying a product. It’s done to understand the competition, type of content, and prices. 

In the case of content marketing, research focuses on the topics that the target audience is most interested in. It is necessary to seek to understand what competitors in the segment are doing, what works and what does not, what engages the most, how it is possible to adapt it to your content and the interests of users within your brand's segment. 

By understanding what your target audience is looking for, you can create quality content that reaches the expected target. 

Content definition

After researching the topics, it is time to define what content will be created and its formats. 

If a company operates in the food industry and realizes that people are searching a lot about cakes, it can choose to make videos or e-books with various recipes. It all depends on the target audience and their preferences. 

Content creation

Content creation is the time when creativity should run wild. With the theme and format defined, it is time to create the best content, thinking about the end audience, so that they can identify with it. 

Public Relations

Promotion is a very important point, because it is through this that the content can reach more people. Obviously, there is organic reach, which happens with followers and people who see the content because others share it, but to reach even more people, you can invest in advertising. 

Ads are a great way to reach audiences who aren’t yet familiar with your brand. On creative platforms, you can target your audience in a very specific way so you don’t waste money by running an ad that reaches the wrong people. 

Assessment and maintenance

After posting the content, it’s time to evaluate which ones worked and which ones didn’t. What engaged the most? Which audience showed the most interest? Which content was good but could have been created in another format?

All channels have their own data, which allows you to analyze the performance of your content. Using this data to your advantage is what will make a difference in the growth of your brand or company. 

Once you’ve analyzed the data, it’s time to re-plan. Decide which formats will be kept, which will be changed, which can be improved, etc. In content marketing, there’s always room for improvement and updating. 

Content Marketing: Examples 

With the world already heavily focused on online, companies are increasingly investing in digital marketing tools and some of them manage to stand out. Check out some examples of companies that do good content marketing below:

Nubank

Nubank is a Brazilian startup in the financial services segment, it is the 4th highest Brazilian company publicly traded. On its networks, the brand positions itself as a non-traditional bank, which was created to end bureaucracy. 

Its positioning on social media is lighter, without the seriousness that many companies adopt. On Twitter, the brand makes jokes, uses memes, and also uses current topics. 

In terms of content marketing, it has a newsletter with exclusive content about finance for subscribers and also has a blog, where it creates content about the financial world. 

The content also includes tutorials on how to declare income tax, information on scams related to payments, investments, etc. 

Nestlé

Nestlé is another brand that uses content marketing as a strategy to win over its target audience. 

On their website, there are several types of content such as recipes that can be made with their products, quizzes such as 'Which party suits you?' and 'Which element matches your feminine strength?', along with the result, a product from the brand is also recommended. There are also cooking classes, a blog about food and nutrition, and rich materials such as recipe e-books. 

Michelin

Michelin was the first company to use content marketing, long before the concept was defined. As such, it has become an example of content marketing for companies.

In 1900, the company created the Michelin Guide, which recommended hotels and restaurants for travelers to visit. The goal was to encourage travelers to make these trips by car and, consequently, to spend more on tires, which is the brand's main product. 

Today, the Michelin Guide is considered the most respected guide in the world and uses a rating system to recommend restaurants and hotels. Winning at least one Michelin star is the dream of many chefs around the world. 

Content Marketing for All Sizes

The most interesting thing today is that companies of all sizes are using content marketing. To give you an idea, at the end of 2016, 67% of companies expected to increase their investments in content marketing in 2017. And this increase in the sector had already been 50% from 2015 to 2016.

To this end, many large companies have blogs. Want some examples? The giant multinational beauty company Avon has a blog to communicate more closely with its consumers.

Or Natura, from the same sector, which also created a blog to talk more closely with its consultants on topics such as promotions, launches, social responsibility, business tips, among other topics. 

And so do Red Bull, Magazine Luiza, McDonald's, Walmart, and so on... many others.

And if large corporations haven’t been left out of a successful strategy, why shouldn’t small and medium-sized companies take advantage of it?

Want to see? A company that has a blog and makes more than 13 posts per month can have its views increased by 4,2 times and get 5 times more leads, in addition to generating twice as much traffic to their websites.

Furthermore, content marketing also helps reduce your customer acquisition costs. Want a more compelling reason to invest in this strategy?

But you need to be an expert in what you do, you need to take care of your product, create attractive content, with good images and good text, ask what your audience wants to know and understand their expectations, as well as encourage comments.

Rest assured that this way you will be much closer to him.

So, regardless of what tactics you use, content marketing should be one of them.

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